Power Struggle
by Ominae
Summary: AU of 2nd GiG, after Latent Heat Source – EXCAVATION. The kidnapping of a woman leads to a power struggle in the face of Japanese history. Some character Xovers from Virtua Cop 3 and an obscure Japanese Production IG-made game. Sequel to Internal Wars.


Ghost in the Shell: SAC/Kokaku Kidoutai: Power Struggle

By: Ominae

Rating: T

NOTE:

All characters of Ghost in the Shell are under the copyright of Masamune Shirow, Production I.G., Bandai Visual and Animax. All other characters/stuff are either under the jurisdiction of their respective copyright holders or are under my own. Cameo appearance of Matti is courtesy of JillTheCrazy 1.

Summary:

AU of 2nd GiG, after Latent Heat Source – EXCAVATION. The kidnapping of a woman leads to a power struggle in the face of Japanese history. Some character Xovers from Virtua Cop 3 and an obscure Japanese Production IG-made game. Sequel to Internal Wars.

* * *

Unknown Room

* * *

Bound and gagged in a dark room was a woman in her late 20s, her arms and legs tied up to a wooden chair while she was blindfolded. Her mouth was gagged up with a piece of masking tape.

_Help!_

The woman wanted to scream her lungs out. It wasn't helpful that her mouth was temporarily incapacitated.

_Someone, help me!_

"Looks like it's curtains for you, girlie."

An unknown voice, probably in his middle to late 20s, was inside the room. She didn't know who he was, but assumed that he was one of her kidnappers.

"My boss told me that I need to silence you for what you saw in the ruins of Shinjuku." The man haughtily told the captive. "And for that," An object was pressed to the woman's forehead, which was a silencer attached to a pistol. "I'm given orders to silence you for good."

A loud kick to the door was soon heard before two individuals came storming the room. One was a ninja wearing Shinobi shozoku clothing and a goggles head harness. Another was a man in his early 20s wearing a JGSDF Type II Flecktarn BDU, recon vest and gloves.

"Freeze!" yelled the BDU-wearing man.

"Not a chance." The pistol-armed man was about to raise his right hand when he was shot several times on his chest after a Poseidon Raisen machine pistol was raised and fired.

"You alright?" A third voice was heard, which came from a man in his late 20s. He had a worn out brown bomber jacket and jeans.

The woman rapidly nodded her again.

"Gale." The cyber ninja drew out his ninjato, Jiro Saburo Jisho, and slashed the ropes that binded the woman's legs and arms without hurting her.** "Help me here, Yu."**

Yu, without saying another word, removed the blindfold.

"Ms. Ruriko Asagi?" The black-haired man said when he removed the masking tape. "I'm Thomas Aramaki Chua and we're from the Almighty Support Enterprises."

"ASE?" Ruriko was shocked to hear the company's name. "You're the guys who secured the prime minister?"

Thomas nodded. "We're here to get you out of here."

* * *

President's Office, Almighty Support Enterprises Japan, Niihama City, Niihama Prefecture, Japan

* * *

"I'm Yoshihiro Sanada." Yoshihiro shook hands with Ruriko, back in his office. "President of ASE Japan."

"Nice to meet you." Ruriko placed a smile up.

"Your relatives have requested that we look for you after you went missing in some of the refugee areas near the ruins of downtown Shinjuku."

Ruriko nodded. "I see."

"We've also checked up on the people who gagged and grabbed up before you boarded your train back to Niihama."

Thomas was in the room, with Gale and Yu.

"They're with Naicho." Yu spoke up. "Under the orders of a Kazundo Goda."

Yoshihiro raised his left eyebrow. "Isn't he..."

"The very same." Yu replied. "I interrogated one of the Naicho agents in their safehouse where they held up Ms. Asagi before I shot him in the head."

Ruriko was shaken when she had heard the fate of one of her captors.

"Now that this information has come to light." Yoshihiro sighed and faced Ruriko. "I would like you to stay here in our headquarters."

"But why?" Ruriko asked. "I want to get back to my family."

**"You seem to be illogical." **Gale commented on Ruriko's concerns. **"Goda's faction in Naicho could place surveillance on you or place a hit on you and your family the moment you step out of this building."**

"My operatives are right, Ms. Asagi." Yoshihiro defended Gale's comments. "Please stay here. I insist. You'll be safe here."

"Of course." Ruriko stood up. "Thank you."

"Now that things have come to this," Yoshihiro reclined and sighed in his chair, watching Yu escort Ruriko out of the office. "we'll need to move fast. Especially the oncoming crisis at Dejima."

"Are we authorized to move in?" Thomas asked Yoshihiro.

"Probably we will soon after I make my case to the board of directors. For now, you three are in charge of protection detail until we're given the green light to solve the case."

* * *

Outskirts of Helipad, temporary JGSDF Base, somewhere in Niihama Prefecture, Japan

* * *

Gale, Yu and Thomas were now infiltrating a temporary JGSDF base located somewhere in Niihama Prefecture, situated near Dejima Island. The base had been fortified with a chain link fence. The two, except the ninja, were garbed in JGSDF Type II Flecktarn clothing, recon vests and gloves.

"Looks like all this time that we'd be able to see something like this." Yu whistled, seeing a few JGSDF soldiers patrolling the grounds.

Prior to the their deployment, Public Security Section 9 Director Daisuke Aramaki had passed intelligence to ASE that Goda was responsible for attempting to let the refugees fight against the JSDF, as well as the massacre of the faction of the government responsible for directing the Umibozu and the SOG against Section 9.

"It seems so." Thomas sighed. "Now that we've got proof that Goda did this, we need to get inside and help Section 9."

**"There seems to be a chopper out there." **Gale pointed to the central portio of the helipad. **"or two."**

Two Fuji AFH-02B Hellhound attack helicopters were parked at the helipad, already fueled up and loaded with several missiles and 7.62 NATO bullets for its Gatling Gun pod.

"Well," Thomas chuckled, watching the guard's patrol patterns before they left the area. "what are we waiting for?"

**"Understood." **Gale drew out his ninjato and sliced a portion of the chain link fence, which was enough for the three of them to enter without being entangled by the cut wires.

"Coast is clear." Yu told his comrades.

The three ASE operatives infiltrated the helipad, being able to board the two Hellhounds without raising much suspicion from base personnel.

It was only when the engines were turned on and the rotors already spinning around clockwise is when the base began to raise its red alert status. It was far too late for any base sentries to stop the choppers when they already took off.

They were heading towards the direction of Dejima.

* * *

Cabin, Mitsubishi UH-60JA Helicopter, en route to Dejima Island, Niihama Prefecture, Japan

* * *

_I hope Niisan's okay..._

Matti Batou was seated in a JGSDF UH-60JA chopper, touching her gray cyborg eyes while she cradled her Seburo C-26A submachine gun. She observed that like herself, her comrades were wearing gray and black sneaking suits. They were all ready for battle, regardless of their gender, appearance or their age.

"All right everyone." One of the men inside the chopper informed his comrades. He had black hair done in a crewcut. "We're about to drop down onto the crash site where an armed group has said to be taken refuge in Dejima with nuclear material."

He saw that the men and women were still listening to him.

"Our mission is to secure the nuclear material from the hands of the rogue group." The black haired-man told the group. "Deadly force has been authorized by the Ministry of Defense."

**"Sir! We've received some strange information." **Someone had communicated the man's cybercomms.

**"What about it?"**

**"Two Hellhounds were hijacked by three men. And the last direction they were headed is near the harbor district of Dejima, just like the previous UH-60JA hijacked two hours ago..."**

* * *

Somewhere over the Philippine Sea, near Dejima Airspace, Niihama Prefecture, Japan

* * *

**"HALT!" **Two Jigabachi AVs hovered over the Philippine Sea, seemingly stopping the Hellhounds dead in their tracks. **"State your names, ranks, serial numbers and your purpose for being out here."**

No response was heard from the Hellhounds.

**"I repeat, identify yourselves and the reasons for being in closed airspace or we will open fire."**

One of the Hellhounds responded to the threat by firing one of its AIM-92 Stinger AAMs at the AVs.

**"Fire! Fire!" **The AVs had their belly-mounted machine guns at the ready. However, the launched AIM-92 Stingers had blown up after hitting one of the AV's machine guns.

**"Go, go!" **Gale had contacted from his Hellhound. The second Hellhound, piloted by Yu and Gale, left the area while Gale kept the AVs busy by strafing them with Gatling Gun fire and by firing the occasional Stinger missile to throw them off their balance.

Just as the second Hellhound was able to be in Dejima's harbor area, two more Jigabachi AVs appeared while Gale's Hellhound had kept his adversaries at bay. The cyber ninja had gunned down one of the Jigabachis after his Stingers had destroyed its tail rotor and cockpit.

"What the?" Gale tried to evade the Stingers being fired at his Hellhound.

It was too late to evade when the newly arrived Jigabachis fired their missiles at Gale's Hellhound, which destroyed his tail rotor and Gatling Gun pod before he was forced to crash land it towards the Philippine Sea near Niihama coastal waters.

* * *

Cabin, Mitsubishi UH-60JA Helicopter, somewhere over Dejima Island, Niihama Prefecture, Japan

* * *

Another group of armed men, numbering around five, were seated in an unmarked UH-60JA chopper that was hovering over Dejima's main square. It was cloaked in optical camouflage, though the dust being kicked up from rotor blades was not fully concealing its presence.

"Looks like the Rangers have already been deployed." The co-pilot had told his passengers, seeing the previous UH-60JA chopper leaving the area after two Ranger squads have already been deployed by fast-roping from the air.

"Seems to be like it." A brown-haired man in his early 30s was seated in the cabin, already armed with a Seburo C-30 assault rifle with a Seburo Bobson pistol on a holster strapped on his right leg. Likewise, his other comrades were armed with the same weapons.

"Come now, Yusuke." A blonde-haired man told the Japanese man. "Aren't you excited to be back home?"

"Not like this, Steve." Yusuke grinned at the American. "Not like this." He then called out some names.

"Charlie Hix."

"Here."

"Maurice Bilal."

"Already here."

"Steve Hammond."

"I was already here you know."

"Sorry. Edward Banfield."

"Here, old chap."

"Don't try that British aristocratic talk on me."

"Sorry."

The pilot yelled to the passengers. "I'm taking her down. Once I deactivate the optical camouflage after landing, you guys have 5 minutes to disembark."

"Roger that!" yelled Yusuke, who opened the door after the UH-60JA landed. "Come on!"

Yusuke, Charlie, Maurice, Steve and Edward quickly departed from the chopper with their C-30s at the ready.

"Shame we can't use our Landmates!" shouted Charlie as the chopper departed the square.

* * *

Wrecked Fuji AFH-02B Hellhound, in Phillippine Sea, somewhere near Niihama Prefecture, Japan

* * *

"You alright?"

Gale woke up after finding out that he was in the wrecked Hellhound, seeing some men in a Rigid-hulled inflatable boat wearing life jackets.

"We're from ASE." One of the men introduced himself to the ninja. "Yoshihiro-san told us that you may need some help."

**"Yeah."** Gale took off the seat restraints from his body before he boarded the RHIB. **"Get us out of here."** He heard several JMSDF ships ranging from destroyers to cruisers commencing bombardment of the island.

"Are we going to help them?" Another had asked.

**"No." **Gale shook his head. **"They'll be able to do it."**

* * *

Harbor, Dejima Island, Niihama Prefecture, Japan

* * *

"Move it, move it!"

Yu and Thomas got off the Hellhound after they landed the chopper, just in time to avoid a barrage from 76 mm guns and Type 90 SSM missiles that wasted a portion of the harbor and destroyed their hijacked Hellhound in the midst of the attack.

"Problem is..." Yu hid with Thomas behind some shipping containers until the initial barrage was halted. "will we be able to make contact with Section 9?"

Loud sounds of someone trying to push something was heard nearby.

"Hey look." Yu pointed to Thomas. "Some debris on top of something that recently collapsed."

"Stay back." Thomas took some C4 from his recon vest and planted it on top of the debris, where the sound was coming from. "Whoever you are, get clear!"

Thomas and Yu took a few steps back from the planted C4. The former took a pen-shaped detonator and pressed its red button, "Fire in the hole!"

The subsequent explosion took out the debris covering the hole, followed by white smoke that came from the detonated C4.

"Watch out." Yu told Thomas, who raised his Seburo J9 submachine gun on the hole.

"It's only her." Yu aimed his Raisen machine pistol, only to see Motoku Kusanagi with a white-haired man wearing a brown trench coat and a M9 knife bayonet sheath strapped upside down on it.

"Nice to see that I get help." Motoko grinned at Yu and Thomas, holding her C-26A.

* * *

Abandoned Basketball Court, Dejima Island, Niihama Prefecture, Japan

* * *

Buttetsu Batou aka Batou, Saito, Pazu and Boma, all in optic camouflage and armed with C-26As, had been running for the past 4 hours from the crash site all the way to a basketball court fenced by a chain link fence.

"Damn." muttered Saito, kicking the fence. "We're cornered."

"Yeah." Boma shared the same sentiment. "By a chain link fence."

"Do we still have time to escape?" Pazu asked his Section 9 comrades.

"End of the line! Don't move!"

The four Section 9 found themselves surrounded by the Rangers aka Public Security Section 4 when they had deactivated their optic camouflage in front of them.

"Damn." Saito noticed that the odds are against them. He, Pazu and Boma had deactivated their optic camouflage, realizing their situation is against them.

"Wait!" Batou deactivated his optic camouflage. "Listen to me for a second, will ya?" He had his hands up.

"Your eyes." One of the Rangers whispered, who was in his middle 30s and was bald. "You were one of us."

"Through and through. Once a Ranger, always a Ranger."

"Niisan!"

Batou was alarmed to see Matti, who previously had her C-26A aimed at his chest.

"Matti!" Batou shouted.

"What...what's going on?"

"Wouldn't we all like to know?"

Yusuke and the others had arrived in the court, having their optic camouflages deactivated too.

"Who the hell are you guys?" A female Ranger in her late 20s with her brown hair in a ponytail raised her C-26A at the newly arrived Yusuke and company.

"Easy, lady." Steve tried to charm his way to her with his American manners. "There's no need to fight, right?"

"We're from Shadow Sword." Maurice had his C-26A slinged and his Bobson at the ready in a Weaver stance. "The UN's multinational counter-terrorist unit."

"How'd you get here?" Matti had her C-26A aimed at the Shadow Sword team also.

"We followed you here." sneered Chris. "It's not like you guys have optic camouflage."

"As much as we'd like to stick around and have a showdown," Yusuke said to deescalate the situation. "We need to get out of here." He then eyed Batou. "You said that you're going to explain on why you Section 9 guys have the nuclear material?"

"Er...yeah?" Batou replied.

"We at Shadow Sword are all ears."

* * *

Harbor, Dejima Island, Niihama Prefecture, Japan

* * *

"So what do I owe the pleasure to ASE?" Thomas helped Motoko to get up from the hole.

"Just only a little assistance to Section 9 courtesy of your boss." Thomas replied. Yu eyed the white-haired man.

"Get up, Kuze." Yu had the Raisen aimed at him, ready to fire should he make a wrong move.

"All right, all right." sighed Kuze, getting out of the hole.

"Hey." Yu told Thomas. "I'm able to get in contact with the outside world." He tapped the earpiece on his right ear for emphasis.

"What are we getting?" Thomas asked, seeing an unmarked UH-60JA chopper land nearby.

"That."

Motoko and Yu brought Kuze to the chopper while Thomas secured the rear, being the last to get in the chopper before it took off.

* * *

Dejima-Niihama Bridge, Niihama Prefecture, Japan

* * *

"Niisan." Matti had some time to speak to Batou after the Rangers and Section 9 were able to evacuate back to a section of the Dejima-Niihama Bridge under the control of JGSDF forces, which had mobilized HAW206 think tank mechas, wheeled APCs and commandos from the Special Operations Group and the Western Army Infantry Regiment as they further went into Dejima to root out heavily armed refugee militants.

"What?" Batou spoke to his kid sister.

"So the reason you Section 9 guys brought the nuclear mission's to save the government, especially Prime Minister Kayabuki?"

Batou nodded. "Yeah."

"Wow..." Matti scratched her head. "It's kinda like some Tom Clancy thriller that I haven't read yet."

The ponytailed man smirked. "Tell me about it."

"Hey Batou." Pazu called to Batou. "Since the Major was able to capture Kuze and evacuate him out a lot earlier than we expected, the JMSDF's holding off all artillery strikes on the island."

"Thank goodness." Batou saw in a distance the UH-60JA that was heading towards Niihama.

He stared at the chopper carefully, seeing Motoko seated next to Kuze. Yu and Thomas were near the purple-haired woman, weapons at the ready as they sat back and tried to relax.

"But I've got some chatter from the JGSDF soldiers that an American Empire submarine's out there near the waters of Okinawa."

Boma was shocked to hear the news. "Just what the heck are they doing there?"

"Don't know." Saito shrugged his shoulders. "But NHK and several other news channels have picked up on the story."

* * *

Somewhere near Okinawa waters, Philippine Sea, Japan

* * *

Near the waters of Okinawa is an Ohio-class submarine of the American Empire Navy known as the AEN Louisiana. It had surfaced with the supposed orders of launch a nuclear strike at Dejima.

"Hey captain." The submarine's XO saw some jets flying towards them. "Looks like we got company."

"You're right." The AEN Louisiana's captain agreed with his XO, seeing four Mitsubishi Shinshin stealth fighter jets fly straight at them before they fired their General Dynamics M61A2 Vulcan gatling guns near the submarine.

"Come on." The captain informed the XO, seeing the Shinshins leave. "They've made their point. We're leaving."

"Aye, sir!"

With the overhead hatch closed, the AEN Louisiana had departed when it began to turn its direction towards the American Empire after it dived under the Philippine Sea.

* * *

Abandoned Kindergarten Building, somewhere in Dejima, Niihama Prefecture, Japan

* * *

Yusuke and the rest of his Shadow Sword unit had converged towards an abandoned kindergarten building, where five armed refugees had decided to make a last stand against them. The JGSDF's SOG and WAiR had been responsible for mopping up most of the armed refugees with the stragglers being left to Shadow Sword.

"We need a plan, boss." Edward peeked from behind an abandoned sedan after the militants had fired their IZHMASH AK-74 assault rifles at him.

"Smoke 'em out first." Yusuke surveyed the building, seeing some heads sticking out of the glassless windows. "Then it'll be Steve's job to snipe 'em from afar."

"Got that." Steve gave a two-finger salute to acknowledge the order.

"On my count." Yusuke whispered. "One, two..." He then took out a smoke grenade from his assault vest and had his right index finger on the safety pin. "and three!"

Yusuke, Charlie and Edward threw several smoke grenades in front of the kindergarten, laying down a white blanket of smoke to distract the militants while Steve began to snipe down the armed refugees.

"Taking the targets." Steve said before he pulled the C-30's trigger, taking down the first AK-74-armed refugee, who was in his late 20s and had shades and a bush hat. The other refugees took cover in the building for fears of being the next target.

"Charge!"

With Steve providing cover fire, Yusuke, Charlie, Edward and Maurice moved in to the building, throwing flashbangs inside before they took down the rest of the armed refugees without a fight by using their martial arts training to subdue them.

"Clear!" Edward yelled, who had cuffed the a female refugee in her 30s after he kicked him in the stomach and executed a shoulder throw.

"Clear!" Maurice shouted, after he shot a bald-headed refugee armed with a Chinese Type 63 rifle was aimed at him.

"Clear!" Yusuke yelled when he did a double roundhouse kick at a refugee, in his middle 20s and in worn out JGSDF Type II Flecktarn clothing, armed with a AK-74 before he cuffed him after the refugee was knocked out.

"Clear!" Charlie shouted when he gunned down a female refugee, wearing a brown bomber jacket and pants, when she fired a 9mm bullet from her Beretta 92. It missed his head when Charlie kneeled down and fired a short burst from his C-30.

"Okay." Yusuke said, seeing that his men were stand down. "Stand down." He faced Charlie. "Contact the JGSDF and tell them we're able to secure some of the armed refugees."

"On it." Charlie complied with Yusuke's instructions.

"So it looks like we're in the clear." Steve entered the building to see Charlie making radio contact, cradling his C-30.

"Yeah." Yusuke replied. "Looks like it."

* * *

Surface Parking Lot, Niihama Sheraton Hotel, Niihama City, Niihama Prefecture, Japan

* * *

Yu and Thomas had arrived at the parking lot of the Niihama Sheraton in their red Mazda Kabura, where platoons of the Special Assault Team and two parked police vans were seen nearby.

"Looks like everything's quiet." Thomas was the first to step out of the auto, dressed in his bomber jacket and jeans. Yu was dressed in a black windbreaker and brown pants.

"Yeah." Yu noted an Asian-Caucasian man with black hair and wearing a sky blue suit and red necktie walked towards one of the police vans. "Way too quiet." He walked towards the van, keeping a safe distance from the swinging doors.

From over the hotel's 20th floor, several shards of glass were falling down to the ground. A familiar woman had leaped from the said floor and made several flips as she landed on the parking lot.

"Was there someone suspicious?" Motoko asked the two ASE agents.

"There's someone who came to one of the vans. A civilian..." Thomas began, watching Motoko dash to the van. Yu opened the doors and drew out his Raisen.

"Freeze!" Motoko had her C-26A aimed at the man.

"Crap!" The suit-wearing man drew out a Seburo Bobson pistol when Motoko fired a short burst from her submachine gun.

"Hey." Thomas walked in the van and checked the object the man dropped. "A syringe." He checked out its contents. "Most likely a micromachine-based virus."

"CIA?" Yu peeked in the van.

"Most likely." Motoko kicked the man to check if he was dead. "You alright?" Motoko asked Kuze.

"I'm alright." Kuze reassured Motoko.

"Good work." Aramaki was in the premises, accompanied by Togusa in a kevlar vest. He was startled when he saw Thomas.

"Tom?" Aramaki was shocked to see him.

"Long time, no see." _Tom_ bowed a bit before Aramaki. "Grandfather."

"Grandfather?" Togusa, Motoko and Yu asked in unison. Two SAT operators boarded the van to check the dead CIA agent's body before one of them called for medical assistance.

"The last thing I heard..." Aramaki patted Tom's left arm. "You were still in the Special Action Force."

"I resigned due to some leadership scandal that I got sick of." Tom shrugged his shoulders.

"Oh well." Aramaki saw Kuze being escorted by the SAT operatives. "Now that this case is all over," He was walking a bit with Tom. "are you free for dinner?"

Tom grinned. "Perhaps."

"Hey Major." Togusa saw the dead CIA agent's corpse being placed in a body bag while Yu was speaking to a SAT operator after he presented his ASE credentials. "What do we do now since he's most likely CIA?"

"I'm sure he'll take care of it." Motoko replied, referring to Aramaki.

"I surely hope so." Togusa scratched his head._ Man, if the days aren't getting weirder and weirder.  
_

THE END

PS - Now that the case is over, I'm on my way to the world of Code Geass! Prepare yourselves!

The AFH-02B Hellhounds are from Patlabor 2, just to let you know. No source is there on the maker of the Hellhound, so I assumed Fuji would do so since they've done the Cobra and Apache under license.

As for the other characters, they're from a Production I.G.-made game for the Playstation 2 called Surveillance Kanshisha. Not much action, but you move your operatives using cameras and such to aid them in attacking terrorists. However, all I can say is that it later takes a sci-fi twist in the middle of the game. And yeah, it's only released in Japan and in Asia, primarily Hong Kong and maybe Macau and Taiwan. Check wikipedia for details.

As for the Mitsubishi Shinshins fighters, the official name as of 2008 is the Mitsubishi ATD-X (Advanced Technology Demonstrator - X) as it's still under R&D by the JASDF.**  
**

One more thing, see if you can spot an Appleseed reference. XP


End file.
